Pep Guardiola has said that Kevin De Bruyne is too important to rest over the Christmas period.
The Manchester City midfielder, who picked up another gong on Thursday to recognise his outstanding level over the past 18 months, started the West Brom game just days after the derby with United. City's manager has had to manage the Belgian's fitness over the last few years and he missed a few matches earlier in the season with fatigue.
Southampton is the start of five games for the Blues over 16 days over the festive period that include trips to Everton and Chelsea - two teams above them in the table - and a Carabao Cup quarter-final at Arsenal.
However, Guardiola does not expect to have to keep De Bruyne sidelined for any of the fixtures and pointed to previous weeks where the 29-year-old has not featured as an indication of how the staff have planned to get the most out of him over this busy period.
"He is so important for us right now that he won't rest," said the manager. "He rested in the Champions League, he rested in other weeks previously and right now we need him."
Only four outfield players - Rodri, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias - have been used more often by Guardiola this season in all competitions than De Bruyne, who played in both Carabao Cup matches in September.
